Policy Synopsis: MSU and the Office of Study Abroad require that every study abroad program provide at least one cell phone number to OSA prior to departure.
Rationale: Following the Summer 2005 London bombings it was critical that communication between OSA and faculty leaders be conducted quickly to account for all students potentially impacted. In many cases the timing was delayed because the lines of communication were not direct. This was due to the fact that faculty had no cell phones, had not completed their emergency contact information prior to departure, or had completed their emergency contact sheet but did not provide OSA with a cell phone number after arrival. During the second bombing OSA had only eight cell phones numbers for the 25 faculty leaders.
Implementation: To address the need for rapid communication between program leaders and OSA during the time of crisis, all programs will be required to provide OSA with at least one cell phone number that will be accessible to and from the country/ies to be visited by the faculty and students. Faculty leaders will have a choice to:
If you chose to do your own research, you may learn that the cost of purchasing a phone in the US or in-country may be comparable to renting a phone. Because rapid and effective communication during a crisis is the underlying reason for this policy, short-term rentals are preferred to puchasing phones because:
In certain situations, it may make more sense to purchase a phone. Program fee funds cannot be used to purchase study abroad phones. They must be bought with departmental funds. You may consider renting a phone in-country or purchasing a phone through other funds such as your department or college.
Budget and Usage: Rental and usage of one cell phone per program will be included in every program budget, with the amount to be determined by the length of the program. Generally, we are recommending a budget of $150 for programs 2-4 weeks in length, $200 for programs 4-6 weeks in length. If your program includes travel to additional countries, we recommend adding $25 per country. Other budgeting considerations are whether or not leader(s) intend to use the phone frequently for local calls (such as to schedule a bus or confirm a meeting) or solely for emergency purposes. Anyone intending to use the phone regularly would be wise to budget another $50-100 depending on program length. Do note that all incoming calls are free, so calls from your family or OSA will not result in any additional charges.
Although a limit will be established in the budget for program cell phone usage, OSA will reimburse for all necessary phone usage beyond the budgeted amount in case of an emergency. Personal calls made on the phone will be the responsibility of the user.
Users are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the use and functions of their phone prior to the need to use it in emergency situations.
Receiving your Phone: Your phone will be shipped to the address of your choice. Phones will arrive within 1-3 days prior to the departure date indicated on your order form. If this is too last minute for you, indicate an earlier departure date on your order form. For programs with multiple faculty, one person must be designated to order, receive and return the phone, but the phone may be shared by all faculty throughout the program. If you wish to have more than one phone, the cost of additional phones can be included in the program budget, so long as they are reasonable.
Disclaimer: While OSA has done their best to estimate rental costs, there are a number of individual factors that will determine a program’s final cost. We ask that you keep note of your calls and expenditures in order to help us budget more accurately in the future.
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